The Dawn of a Legacy exhibit at the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport, New York, features 16 Curtiss motorcycles – the most ever assembled under one roof – and 15 other bikes built between 1901-1912. The exhibit will be open until August 31, 2023.
Rick Leisenring, who has been curator of the museum for 19 years, told American Rider the exhibition is the result of a yearlong effort involving the cooperation of five museums and 10 private collectors, and it was curated to celebrate the 120th anniversary of Glenn Curtiss starting his motorcycle and engine business.
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Many people are surprised to hear that the first V-Twin was not built by Harley or Davidson or Hendee or Hedstrom but rather by Curtiss. Additionally, Curtiss was the first to incorporate twistgrip throttle control to motorcycles in 1906.
Curtiss’ first motorcycle had a single-cylinder engine that he built using his own castings and a ball-bearing design he created. He marketed the motorcycles under the Hercules brand in 1902 and built a V-Twin the next year, which he rode to a speed record of 64 mph.
After a copyright dispute, Curtiss changed the Hercules brand name to his own surname, which would become well-known in the aviation industry as well. In 1909, he turned the motorcycle side of the business over to a childhood friend, Leonard “Tank” Walters, which begat the short-lived Marvel brand.
“Glenn contributed extensively in the development and growth of the motorcycle industry, an achievement that is little known today,” Leisenring said in a statement announcing the Dawn of a Legacy exhibition.
Beyond the motorcycle industry, Curtiss also made significant contributions to the field of aviation. One of his 9-horsepower V-Twins powered a dirigible to a distance and altitude record in 1904. He also developed a V-Four for both aircraft and motorcycle use, as well as a 269ci V-8 that he would later mount in a motorcycle that propelled him to an absolute speed record of 136.26 mph in 1907 – a mark that wouldn’t be beaten by a motorcycle for a remarkable 23 years.
In 1913, out of a desire to focus more on the aviation business, Curtiss put his entire inventory of motorcycles, parts, and tooling up for sale.
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“In retrospect,” Leisenring said, “if it weren’t for his motorcycles and love of speed, aviation would have taken a lot longer to get off the ground.”
Leisenring told AR that, in conjunction with his responsibilities as the curator of the museum, he has been spending the past six years researching and writing a more definitive history on that era.
Of the 16 Curtiss motorcycles at the Dawn of a Legacy exhibition, all three brands – Hercules, Curtiss, and Marvel – are represented in models from well-known collectors such as Jim Dennie, Dale Stoner, Dale Axelrod, Vern Fasel, and Bruce Linsday. Leisenring said they also have a reproduction 1907 Curtiss V-8 that was made from a number of original Curtiss parts.
“We had the original on loan to us from the Smithsonian for 20 years and built this one before returning the original,” he said.
Leisenring says the exhibit is a work in progress, but as of publication, other marques in the exhibit include a 1909 Harley-Davidson and a 1908 and 1911 Indian, as well as bikes from Thomas, Greyhound, Pierce, Mitchell, Emblem, Orient, and Erie.
The Dawn of a Legacy exhibition will run through Aug. 31, 2023. For more information on the museum – which includes aviation, automobile, and bicycle exhibits – or the Dawn of a Legacy exhibition, visit the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum website.
